Trauma Recovery, Resilience, and Post-Traumatic Growth: An Integrative, Mind-Body approach to Care for Yourself and Others

This healing retreat at Drala Mountain Center in Red Feather Lakes, Colorado, offers an integrative, mind-body approach to trauma recovery, resilience, and post-traumatic growth. It is open to people working with their own history and to therapists, yoga teachers, and other helpers who want practical tools for the people they support. It is led by Arielle Schwartz, PhD, a clinical psychologist and yoga teacher known for her work on complex PTSD.

What to Expect

The retreat runs four nights, with teaching in the morning, afternoon, and evening. A sample day begins with morning teaching from 9:30 am to 12:00 pm, continues with afternoon teaching and practices from 2:00 to 4:00 pm, and closes with an evening session from 7:30 to 9:00 pm. Meals and free time leave room for rest and integration. Arrival is in the afternoon of the first day, with check-in at the Guest Services Cabin, followed by an opening session and community orientation. Departure is at 12:30 pm on the last day.

The work rests on neuroplasticity: the understanding that traumatic memories are held in neural networks that can change, and that recalling difficult memories in a safe context can change how they are stored. Resilience and post-traumatic growth are fostered through nervous system regulation, embodiment practices, and therapeutic journaling. Along the way you will:

- Learn the 6 R's of neuropsychotherapy as a framework for trauma recovery
- Explore resilience and protective factors that help prevent the development of PTSD
- Discover how your nervous system works and how to enhance vagal tone
- Take part in experiential practices meant to leave you balanced, centered, and empowered
- Attend to the past with self-compassion
- View trauma recovery through the lens of the Hero's Journey

The aim is not to change what happened. It is to work through the pain of the past until resolutions can be found in the here and now.

About Arielle Schwartz, PhD

Arielle Schwartz is a clinical psychologist, internationally sought-after teacher, and certified Kripalu yoga instructor. She has written eight books, including The Complex PTSD Workbook, EMDR Therapy and Somatic Psychology, The Post Traumatic Growth Guidebook, The Complex PTSD Treatment Manual, and The Polyvagal Theory Workbook for Trauma. She guides therapists in applying EMDR, somatic psychology, parts work therapy, and mindfulness-based interventions for trauma and complex PTSD.

She founded the Center for Resilience Informed Therapy in Boulder, Colorado, where she maintains a private practice offering psychotherapy, supervision, and consultation. She also teaches with the Polyvagal Institute, offering a course on Applied Polyvagal Theory in Yoga alongside Dr. Stephen Porges. After more than twenty years as a therapeutic yoga teacher, she holds that trauma recovery is an awakening of the spiritual heart. Past participants describe a sense of being held, a community shaped by her warmth, and a framework and set of practices they could use with themselves and with clients.

The Setting

The retreat takes place at Drala Mountain Center in Red Feather Lakes, Colorado. Lodging is chosen at registration, and all options include meals and drinks:

- Off campus: commute from your own home, a rental, or nearby camping.
- Car camping: self-contained vehicles only, in the Rigden parking lot. No tents or camping gear.
- Platform tents: 12' x 14' tents with twin beds, bookcases, and a clothes rack, on the main campus or in the more remote Maitri Village, each near a bathhouse. Single or double occupancy.
- Dormitories: gender-segregated rooms for up to seven people, with bathrooms and showers down the hall.
- Monk rooms: private indoor rooms with bedding, a closet, a large window, and a desk, with a shared bathroom.
- Single and double rooms: more space, a dresser and closet, and an attached bathroom with toilet, sink, and shower.
- Junior suites: a queen bed, private bath with tub, desk, dresser, closet, and sitting area.

Before You Go

The retreat is offered in English and is open to all levels, whether you are a practitioner or new to trauma-informed work. Tuition includes all meals and beverages, retreat materials and deepening practices, and therapeutic journaling exercises. Lodging is an additional cost, and extra nights can be added at a discount. Transportation to Drala Mountain Center is not included. If you choose a platform tent, bring your own twin sheets, blanket or sleeping bag, and pillow.